Even 'dead villagers' attended Katni public hearing

JABALPUR: Dead men may not tell a tale, but few among them can come down on a flying visit to root for a noble cause.

On March 11, 2011, 21 dead villagers from Bujbuja, a small hamlet in Katni, which has now turned a battlefield as local farmers refuse to give up 508 acres of land to thermal power plant proposed by Wellspun Energy Private Limited (WSEPL) - made a sudden appearance to participate in a public hearing at Nathu Ka Talab.

The jansunvai, which is a mandatory provision under the Environment Protection Act before any private land is acquired for an industry or plant, was also attended by a panel from central /state pollution control board, local officers, representatives of company and hundreds of villagers, who were required to file their objection or consent to the proposed power plant.

However, the long list of participants, who wholeheartedly supported the power plant in their midst included 21 departed souls from Bujbuja, claimed Arvind Shrivastava, a lawyer. Shrivastava is appearing in a PIL filed against WSEPL currently pending before the MP high court.

Producing a copy of list of supporters procured from the recorded minutes of hearing in the gram sabha records, Shrivastava showed the death certificates of dead villagers to TOI on Friday. This apart the list seemed highly repetitive with same names appearing several times to boost up the numbers, he charged. The company, he also alleged, had deliberately maneuvered the bloated figures to underplay discontent among the unwilling farmers and project a positive picture.

The matter was formally reported to the collector, Katni, on March 14, 2011, with a request to initiate necessary action against the company for willful misrepresentation, but it elicited no response, he said.

The allegation has been rubbished by the WSEPL. Head of the company in Katni, Jay Shukla, said that Wellspun was not at all involved in the issue which primarily concerned only two parties - villagers and officials. More than 2000 postcards were sent to the board by interested villagers themselves without any information to WSEPL, therefore this canard, he said, was deliberately planted to discredit the plant.